Lightroom Print Preset – Multi-Photo Portrait Grid

I’ve been working with the print templates a lot lately. A while back I released a multi-photo travel template that turned out to be pretty popular. I went back to it yesterday to work with some portraits, and made a few tweaks since the last time I’ve used it. Mainly, I went in and modified some of the spacing options and added some templates with a wide space between them and some others with a narrower space. There’s also a version with a black background and one with a white background.

Some tech specs: It only works in Lightroom 3. It’s based on a 12×12 inch paper size. There’s room for 16 photos in it which makes a really nice way to show off a portrait or engagement session.

Here’s how it works: First download and import the new print template. Look at the directions below and make sure you DON’T install this in the Develop module like you do the rest of the presets. In the Print module, go to User Presets and select the new template. It’ll show a blank page and all you have to do is drag your photos from the filmstrip into it.

Here’s a few samples (Click for a larger version).

(White Thin Border Preset)

(White Thick Border Preset)

(Black Thick Border Preset)

Also, here’s some other samples from the last preset, so you can see what it looks like with different photos as well as with the Photo Border option (in the Print module) turned off and on.

(Photo Border option turned off)

(Photo Border option turned on, Page Background Color set to white)

(Photo Border option turned on, Page Background Color set to black)

Customize – you can also customize this one by changing the “Page Background Color” option (which is in the “Page” panel in the lower right side of the Print module), as well as the Photo Border settings.

These are a little different to install than your usual Develop presets:
1) Click here to download the preset.
2) Unzip the preset zip file on to your desktop
3) Go to the PRINT MODULE (NOTE: THESE ARE NOT DEVELOP PRESETS SO DON’T INSTALL THEM THERE!)
4) Go to the Template Browser on the left. Right click on the words User Presets and choose “Import“.
5) Select the .lrtemplate file you unzipped in Step 1 and click Import (NOTE: DO NOT IMPORT THE ZIP FILE)

Matt is the Vice President of Photography for onOne Software and a Tampa-based photographer. He's a best selling author of over 20 books and teaches Lightroom and Photoshop at seminars and conferences around the world.

Hi Matt. I saw a question on a Lightroom Linkedin group this morning about making a collage in Lightroom and I immediately knew where to send the guy. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your talent!

Hi Matt,
I was able to install and use the preset. However, I was unable to position the pictures inside the squares. I tried the Ctrl+click (Got the hand) but was limited to left-right and not up-down, especialy on the lower parts of the template. Any idea?

Jude,LR already has an overlay to view as the golden mean with the crop tool. Go to Develop>crop tool> then hit the letter “O” and will cycle through until you find the golden mean overlay,then hit shift O to change to move through the 4 positions.Then move crop to where it best works for you

Matt, I love the layout of these. Probably a daft question but I’ll ask anyway, do these presets work in LR 2? If not, is it possible to achieve these types of layouts or something similiar in LR2. Again, apologies if you have this covered some where and I’ve missed it.
Thks
SC

This is a really dumb question… I am fairly new to using LR… how do I get pictures from various albums folders etc., into the print or develop modules? What I mean is, when I open LR, and go to the library, click the date (folder) only those images are in the filmstrip… can I pick say, various images of my dog from when she was a pup to full grown… and put them into a layout? Those images will be in different folders etc.

I’m really confused. they downloaded quite fine for me and I followed the instructions to install. However, when I click on any of the templates in LR to use for my photos, it does *nothing*. I tried restarting LR, deleting and reinstalling, etc… but to no avail. Any idea why they won’t work for me?

Not having much luck with this. The template is 12:x12″ which is incompatible with all the print devices (HP printer, fax, PDF creator, etc.) available to me in the “Page Setup” dialog box. In the drop down menu for paper size, there is no “custom size” option to choose from, so I cannot specify a document print size of 12″x12″. Thus, the template formatting that shows in my LR3 window is completely messed up due to LR3 trying to force a 12″x12″ template into an 8.5″x11″ document size. When I mouse over the four different template files in the left pane, the preview window shows the 12″x12″ layout as it SHOULD look, but that is not what is showing in my center window. Tried to change devices in my “page setup” dialog box but none of those that are available have a 12″x12″ size option nor a custom option where you can specify your own dimension.

I have also same problem.when I mouse over on left side of panel on mates multi photo it looks like here sample 12×12 but when i choose template than change to A4 format.I don’t understand.but thanks a lot so nice template..

I have the same problem and no Acrobat Pro. It seems really weird that Adobe would not have anticipated users wanting to create larger files than their locally installed printers can handle. Larger printouts are, after all, partly why we send stuff out to labs.

I posted this comment before however never got a response, so i thought i’d ask here.

In the Print module i can drag an image from the filmstrip and place it on any box in the template. Using the CTRL key and mouse I can move the image left/right or up/down. How can I zoom in or out of that picture.

Hopefully you can make a video or post a comment on a solution. Cheers!